ABBA Gold: Greatest Hits

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Editorial reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review
Anyone looking for the key to ABBA's enduring appeal should look no further than "Voulez Vous" and "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)" for their answer. There was an innocence to the Swedish quartet, even when they were singing about one-night stands and the invitations to them. Gold establishes that the band, while appreciated as campy, were actually multifaceted in their execution. "S.O.S." has a raw urgency in its chorus, and "Does Your Mother Know" draws its energy from classic 1950s rock & roll. Likewise, you don't have to be Priscilla to swoon over "Mamma Mia" or "Dancing Queen". And when it comes to drama, those soaring vocals on "The Winner Takes It All" turn the song into a bitter anthem of every relationship that has ever fallen apart. The much-covered "Lay All Your Love on Me" is practically epic. --Steve Gdula

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Description
Massive-selling, definitive greatest hits collection from arguably the greatest pure pop act of all time. The inspiration for countless male-female groups even to this day, their irresistibly catchy melodies, close harmonies and emotionally resonant lyrics have been imitated many times but never bettered. Includes all the classics like 'Dancing Queen', 'Money Money Money', 'Knowing Me Knowing You', 'The Winner TakesIt All' and the Eurovision-winning 'Waterloo'.

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Customer reviews

review by: Marty From SF date: 2008-07-31 rating:
400 Million And Counting


Nineteen of ABBA's best songs are plenty, but you won't tire of them. It is amazing that four Swedes (Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus as writers and Anni-Frid Lyngstad and Agnetha Fältskog as the main singers) could take such simple English cliches and turn them into pop music magic. Despite sometimes maddeningly simple lyrics, the song arrangements were unnervingly catchy and the multi-level layered compostions are fascinating. The keyboards and synthesizers were used in some of the more ingenious ways during the seventies to produce that unmistakeable ABBA sound. The energy and nearly anthemic enthusiasm eminating from each song marked them all as instant classics, no matter how jaded or synical the listener. It is doubtlful if you read the song list here that you would not know the melody. The one ironic thing about this groups phenomenal success, is that of over 400 million album sales, they only had one number one hit in the US - "Dancing Queen". But it is one heck of a great song.

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review by: date: 2008-07-14 rating:
Every home should have a copy!
This CD can change your day, your washing up, your chores and your mood into an all singing, all dancing feel good experience. It starts, no messing, straight in there, with Dancing Queen, surely one of the best dance floor fillers of all time. There's no dead wood on this album, all the old favourites are here: Chiquitita, Mamma Mia, Voulez Vous, Thank You For the Music and the beautifully written Winner Takes it All. I admire Benny and Bjorn so much as songwriters since not only do they produce perfect ageless pop songs (and there is such an art to it) but don't forget, their lyrics are written in their second language, not their first. Their talent amazes me and their music makes me feel grrrrreat. I defy anyone to play dancing queen and stand still and not feel that life is good. Worth the money and better than therapy.

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review by: date: 2005-03-02 rating:
Extremely pleased with this CD
ABBA was formed in 1972 by four great Swedish musicians (Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid "Frida" Lyngstad - ABBA, get it?). Featuring wonderful vocals and bouncing instrumentation, plus enjoyable (if somewhat lightweight) lyrics, the group shot to international stardom, dominating charts around the world until their final breakup in 1982. This album was put together in 1993, and contains many of ABBA's most memorable tunes. As an added bonus, the paperwork contains a short history of the group, plus many colorful pictures.

Overall, I am extremely pleased with this CD, and highly recommend it to everyone! By they way, I used this CD to introduce my own children to ABBA, and now they walk around singing some of the same songs that I did at their age!

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review by: date: 2004-05-12 rating:
THE BEST GREATEST HITS ALBUM EVER
I recently read an article on the most reputable American music magazine, Billboard Magazine, about this album being one of the top sellers worldwide of all time. It has sold 30 Million copies around the world, and here in UK it has sold almost 4 million copies! Then I learned that ABBA has sold over 350 million albums worldwide. Wow! Only the Beatles and Elvis have sold more, accoring to the article. I knew they had many number ones here in UK, but did not know they were so big in the world. The article explained that ABBA was bigger than the Beatles in many Latin American countries, in Russia, Viet Nam, Netherlands (where 3 out of every household owns an ABBA record) and in Australia.

I figured out I should give ABBA a try. i needed to understand why so many liked this group, and I did not even own one of their CDs.

I had only heard Dancing Queen, Waterloo, and Take A Chance On Me, so I bought this album. I am now an ABBA fan. I usually don't like pop, but ABBA has finally won me over. After several listens, I decided that I have never EVER heard melodies this good. They are fresh, timeless, and like U2's Bono said, "I think ABBA have a pure joy to their music, and that’s what makes them extraordinary!" The music is so joyous even when there is melancholy and drama added. The music is so much more complex than I had given ABBA credit for --- before really listening.

My favorite music acts are U2, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, The Beatles, and Bob Dylan. Now ABBA has joined them.

I did some research and found other quotes about ABBA from U2 members and others:

Bjork: “ABBA saved my life, it’s undeniable. Arrival is a happy record. ‘Dancing Queen’ is the biggest song in pop-music history, pure ecstasy, it makes you want to fly!”

Richard Ashcroft, from The Verve: "‘Dancing Queen’ is one of my favourite songs of all time’," "In ‘Dancing Queen,’ taking it as a songwriter, it’s just one of the most perfectly crafted pieces of pop music. It makes me feel good. Life is just moments, you know what I mean? And music’s about capturing those moments. Every time I hear ‘feel the beat of the tambourine/oh yeah’ it makes a chemical react in my brain. Something happens in my body and I feel good!"

Elvis Costello: “We stole them like crazy, and they dragged these things into pop music, these big double octave flourishes on the piano that seemed right straight out of Rachmaninoff”

The Edge, from U2: “ABBA have written the best pop music of all time.”

I agree completely. ABBA is way up there.


review by: date: 2004-03-29 rating:
This Review is Directed to Chris from Newtownards, N Ireland
Chris from Newtownards, N Ireland obviously has a very tunnel visioned view about ABBA's music/songs. Just because they were a pop group does not devalue their craftmanship in constructing and producing some of the catchiest melodious hook laden pop (ROCK) has ever heard. Incidentally their last two studio albums Super Trouper and The Visitors showed that they had matured considerably since "Dancing Queen" and "Mama Mia". The title track "Visitors (crackin up) is about russian dissidents and musically would put OASIS to shame.

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